Blind Date

Matthew on Charlotte

So why did you sign up to Blind Date?

Well, I actually lost a bet… I was going to do it anyway, but that was originally what spurred me on to do it.

So where did you take Charlotte on the date?

To the Northumberland Arms, just next to Eldon Square, it looks quite shady from the outside. We tried to go to Wetherspoons, but that was just full. When I first suggested a venue for the date I asked if she wanted to go to the cat cafe… and she said she was more of a dog person. So that was a good start. Unfortunately I like big dogs, like Doberman, but not small ones like her Shih Tzu. Bit of a deal breaker. I then suggested Pizza Hut. But she had a ball dress to fit into next week apparently… so we decided on the pub instead.

So had you had a look at Charlotte on Facebook before?

A bit, yeah. I looked at her profile, and saw we had a mutual friend. So that was a topic of conversation.

Did you enjoy the date?

I thought the actual date went well, we just had nothing in common.At the end, she said it was probably best to keep it as a blind date, I thought… well that’s helpful.

How long were you there for?

A few hours probably, we met at 6 and left at about half 7, so not that long.

What were some notable conversation topics?

Just everything. The weather in Newcastle, politics, …her dog.

Did the discussion of politics get a bit awkward?

No not really, we just moved on quite quickly. I didn’t want to dwell on it. Plus she showed me lots of pictures of her Shih Tzu, so that was an easy conversation changer.

So what did you think of her aesthetically when she first approached you?

I thought she looked okay, a bit short maybe, but that was it.

What did you have to drink?

I had a Guinness and coke, and she just had water and coke. She’d gone really heavy or something a few nights before and said she couldn’t drink alcohol.

Did you expect her to be drinking?

Well, I was quite happy that she wasn’t just necking vodka, that’s normally a sign that it’s going bad.

If you could go back in time and give yourself one tip before the date, what would it be?

Maybe show up 5 minutes late, because that’s when she showed up. It would’ve saved me waiting outside for ages.

I was quite happy that she wasn’t just necking vodka

How did the date end?

On the metro back we bumped into someone that she knew from netball. So it ended up just them two talking about netball and her year abroad.

How do you think she would’ve described you to her friends after the date?

Boring, if anything.

What was her best trait?

I’d say it was that she didn’t get any of my jokes, because my jokes are normally that bad.

Did you crack a few one liners?

Subtle one liners, yeah. Mainly joking about my bad jokes.

Did you fancy her?

Not really. In the long run, I didn’t think we had enough in common to go by.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your date?

8/9 if I had to put a number to it, I’d say it went quite well.

Charlotte on Matthew

So you’ve been on Blind Date before?

Yeah. It didn’t go too well, on the rating at the end he gave me a 5 for personality and a 6 for looks.

What did you think when he first suggested that you’d go to a cat café on your date?

I was a bit taken aback. I wasn’t expecting that, because I’m not a cat person or anything. It just seemed like a bit of a weird one for a first date.

Maybe he wanted to be, I don’t know, edgy…

Yeah, because he told me he didn’t like cats either, so I didn’t quite understand why he’d suggest it. I suppose he was trying to be creative.

What were your first impressions of him?

I thought he was really nice. He didn’t seem like anyone who was trying to come across as someone he wasn’t.

What did you talk about?

Well we’ve both lived abroad before. I lived in Malta and he lived in Egypt, so they’re quite near each other. We also have a mutual friend, and he assumed I did music just because I knew this girl. So then we got onto the topic of subjects we did and stuff, it was very uni-based.

Did anything strange happen?

When I got up to get the second round of drinks, he came up with me. I assumed he’d just stay at the table with my bag, because I didn’t want to leave it unattended. But I ended up having to leave it, thankfully it wasn’t too busy. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone come with me to get drinks before. Maybe he wanted to help me carry the drinks, but I think I could carry two.

What do you think he said to his friends about you after the date?

Erm, hopefully good things. He asked me out again, so…

He first suggested going to a cat cafe, but he told me he didn’t like cats, so that was weird

What did you say?

I said that we didn’t have enough in common to keep seeing each other. But considering he didn’t ask me out again until the next day, so I assume he spoke to his flatmates and said nice things.

If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before the date, what would it be?

Maybe not go to the pub.

So you didn’t fancy him…?

No, I thought he was really nice but I just didn’t think there was enough there.

What was his best trait?

I think how excited he got about his interests, it was nice to see him so passionate.

What was his worst trait?

He doesn’t like small dogs.

He said you’d been out the night before, and so weren’t drinking?

I wasn’t hungover because I’d not been out the night before, but I did say I didn’t want to keep drinking. For my own reasons I try not to drink too much and I had been drinking too much earlier in the week. But I think you can go on a date without drinking.

What did you think of him aesthetically?

I think because he had quite rectangular glasses, he should maybe try some more square ones. They’re in at the moment, and they’d probably suit him well.